How to clean Firefox's prefs.js

[Sl@pSh0ck™]

When we uninstall addons for firefox, just like in Windows it leaves behind traces in prefs.js (profile preferences) which overtime can grow in size.

What is prefs.js - http://kb.mozillazin...g/Prefs.js_file

Why is this is a problem?

- Firefox needs more time to load a larger prefs.js file. This means an extended browser startup and shutdown.

- The second is privacy related. It is theoretically possible to extract valuable information out of some preferences, e.g. installed add-ons or add-on specific settings that spill more information.

- Lastly, it may result in incompatibilities, although that is usually not the case.

How to clean up these mess?

We can clean Firefox's prefs.js manually or semi-automated. Manual clean up takes a lot of time because you will have to delete or reset each line left by uninstalled addons. To save time, we will tackle how to clean FX's prefs.js semi-automated.

Steps:

1. Know the location of your FX profile, by default(win 7) it should be in C - users - "your username" - app data (this is hidden by default so you will have to change your folder preferences to show hidden folders) - roaming - mozilla - firefox - profiles - prefs.js)

2. Download FFPCleaner from here: http://cid-de4ca2125...Cleaner^_v1.zip

3. Extract and run FFPCleaner then locate your FX profile.

4. Select addons that you believe have been uninstalled and then click ‘Remove Selected’ to remove their junk.

Tested in Win 7 x64 using Nightly 14 x64.

Dev Homepage: http://5pm.zwares.co...prefsjs-cleaner

[clubhouse]

Gahhh!...Needs net 3.5.......I have net 2.....I don't really want the bloat of 3.5......Still if I find I need it for other software in the future I'll remember this useful gadget.

[dcs18]

Good one, I believe CCleaner can also do the cleanup (provided it's configured to.) :)